The Plan and the Legislation
摘要
This chapter discusses the Biden administration’s proposal to rework the American political economy through modern supply side economics. The measures were largely contained in the American Jobs Plan, focussed on employment and infrastructure, the American Families Plan, dealing with education and care, and the Made in America Tax Plan, which comprised amendments to corporate taxation. It was to be legislated through what became the Infrastructure, Investment and Jobs Act and the Inflation Reduction Act. Further measures were included in the CHIPS and Science Act, alongside executive orders that reworked aspects of regulatory cost–benefit analysis, and encouraged the use of existing government rule-making power to improve competition in the economy. The administration also began negotiating so-called modern trade agreements. However, key measures that were to have reconfigured the American political economy were either omitted from the legislative drafts or negotiated away as the legislation moved through Congress. In the end, the agenda resembled supply side security not new political economy and its capacity to deal with middle class malaise was questionable.